Our View: Learn more about famed Nolen report

Perry 200 commemorates a pivotal event that occurred 200 years ago. Destination Erie looks ahead to what the Erie region can aspire to become in the next 20 to 30 years.

But whether they're looking back at the Battle of Lake Erie on Sept. 10, 1813, or ahead to envision the Erie region decades from now, Erie's civic leaders often cite John Nolen's work, "Greater Erie 1913. Plans and Reports for the Extension and Improvement of the City," as a blueprint for comprehensive planning to move Erie forward.

In 1913, as Erie celebrated the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie, business and industry leaders viewed the new profession of city planning as an effective way to prime Erie for growth. That optimism is captured in the Nolen report's forward, written by the City Planning Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade. "Erie is destined to be a great city,'" the forward says, but then adds: "The task of today is to solve present problems and to plan wisely and unselfishly for future growth."

Nolen studied Erie's streets, railroads, waterfront, buildings and open spaces. He then made specific recommendations to improve downtown, transportation, neighborhoods, parks, schools, housing and Erie's waterfront, where he said the city had to get rid of the "chaos" that had resulted when piers were built for competing uses.

At Preservation Erie's Greater Erie Awards Night on May 2, guest speaker Charles D. Warren, who wrote a lengthy introduction to Nolen's book "New Towns for Old" when it was reissued 10 years ago, talked about why Nolen is highly regarded for his pioneering work in urban planning.

A New York City architect and college professor, Warren brought Nolen to life as he described how Nolen was only 9 when his father was shot to death in a Philadelphia courtroom as he argued for voting rights. As a male orphan, Nolen became eligible to study at Girard College's Boys School for Orphans and later attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Harvard University.

Warren cautioned that the Nolen report has to be put in context today. "Some of it is obsolete," he said. For instance, Nolen didn't plan for the way automobiles would come to dominate American life. But Nolen's observation that Erie is a "town rich in civic activity" with the potential to work together on plans in a "coherent manner" is relevant today, he said. Such planning has created vibrant communities in Annapolis, Md., Charleston, S.C., and Nantucket, Mass., as well as the Nolen-planned town of Venice, Fla., he said.

Thanks to Steven Sonnenberg and Lisa Austin, co-founders of Civitas, Preservation Erie's predecessor, you can read the complete Nolen report at www.johnnolenproject.com. (Austin is a Democratic candidate for Erie County Council's 2nd District seat.) And if you'd like to learn more, join Sonnenberg every Thursday from 9 to 10 a.m. as he leads a yearlong discussion about the Nolen plan in room 605 of the Masonic Temple building, 32 W. Eighth St.